A dog owner, who has been reunited with his pet which went missing for a week, is warning others as he believes he could have been tricked into handing over £100 for the animal's safe return.

Matthew Butler set up an online and poster campaign after his two-year-old chocolate Labrador, Charlie, ran off through his open garden gate.

Using Facebook and the Dog Lost website, the appeal gathered pace, with posters offering a reward appearing all over their neighbourhood, as well as phone calls being made to every vet in West Yorkshire.

Mr Butler, 31, , of Lynfield Drive, Heaton, then received the call he had been waiting for - a man telling him he knew where Charlie was. But after he arranged to meet the man and the friend who claimed she had bought the dog for £100, his suspicions were raised.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: "I was happy to meet them and hand over the money if it meant getting my dog back, as I had been offering a reward anyway. But they changed the meeting point twice and when I asked for details of where they had bought the dog and who from, she clammed up.

"Afterwards, I began to think that I might have been scammed.

"I mean, who buys a dog off somebody in the street? I've heard that people are stealing dogs for the reward, keeping them for a number of days so the owner gets desperate and then miraculously finding them and returning them to claim the money.

"I know Charlie ran off, but I have been told that if people find a dog and don't report it, it's illegal."

Mr Butler, a heating engineer, lives with his pregnant girlfriend Zoe Douthwaite, 27, who is a teaching assistant, and his disabled pensioner mother Joyce Butler.

The family have two other dogs - a three-year-old black Labrador called Loki, and a five-year-old Lhasa Apso, called Archie. Both Labradors ran out through their open garden gate at about 8pm on Wednesday, February 25, but Loki returned, while despite an extensive search, Charlie could not be found.

Following the phone call and subsequent meeting in Thorn Lane, Heaton, which led to Charlie's return, Mr Butler reported his concerns to the police.

They have since confirmed that no further action is being taken as the dog had been reported missing, not stolen, and there was no proof of criminal intent.

The law requires the finder of a stray dog to return the dog to its owner or contact the local authority, otherwise they could face prosecution and be liable for a fine if convicted.

Nik Oakley, spokesman for volunteer-run website DogLost, said of Mr Butler's complaint: “This sounds very much like what we call theft by finding, which is an offence, whereby a genuinely missing dog is found and instead of someone reporting the dog to the dog warden, they keep the dog and wait for some reward to be offered or to see if any posters go up about the missing dog.

“The usual scam is the person phones up and says, ‘I bought it for £500 or £1,000, of course you must have it back, but I mustn’t be out of pocket’.

“DogLost’s position is that any genuine dog lover wouldn’t ask for a reward.

“There is quite a lot of this going on in Yorkshire. It has risen so much in the last couple of years to become quite a serious crime, and the police are looking at it.”

To report a stray to Bradford Council's dog warden service, call 01274 431000.